Ducks looking to 'recapture it' in Game 6 of West 1st Round against Oilers 

For the Anaheim Ducks, Game 5 was a mix. A bad start, a better finish but overall, probably best forgotten.

"I always find in the course of a (Stanley Cup) Playoff series there's one game you want to throw in the can, just wasn't up to par and you're wondering, 'Why, why, why?'" Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said Wednesday. "It happens, it seems, every year, every playoff round."

Before tossing that game, the Ducks took a powerful lesson out of it: be ready for the start, or you're going to be in trouble. They'll need to apply it when the again try to eliminate the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round at Honda Center on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, Victory+, truTV, TNT, KCOP-13, SN360, SN, TVAS, CBC). 

The Ducks lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 after losing 4-1 at Rogers Place on Tuesday. They're 11-4 in potential series-clinching games on home ice, most recently when they defeated the Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 of the 2017 second round.

Quenneville's also familiar with these scenarios. As an NHL coach, he's 19-6 in Game 6 and 12-1 when it's a potential series clincher. Much of that came as coach of the Chicago Blackhawks (2008-18), who he guided to the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015, but it's something that benefits the Ducks.

"It's great that the crowd's going to be excited," Quenneville said. "We're looking forward to it," Game 6s, they have a lot of meaning, lot of momentum. Going in we have to recapture it, and I think you get that immediately when you skate around in warmup and feel the crowd. They've been very supportive all year long. They've been great the first two home games. We expect a big home crowd that's going to be ready to go, and we'll be ready to go."

The Ducks won Games 3 and 4 in Anaheim by a combined score of 11-7. To make it count on home ice, they have to get off to a much better start than in Game 5. The Oilers came out strong. The Ducks said they expected that, but they didn't come with the same fervor and Edmonton led 3-0 in the first 10:13 of the opening period.

"You have to play a full 60 minutes," defenseman Ian Moore said. "The start is really important in those games. We didn't get off the way we wanted to. Just learn how to play the whole game. Right from the start we have to be better.

"You want to be fast. You want to control the tempo early. I think you sort of play a field-position game, try to play in their end as much as you can, try to establish your three-zone game early."

One question also looms: Will the Ducks make a goalie change for Game 6? Lukas Dostal, who started the first five games, was pulled after allowing three first-period goals on nine shots. Ville Husso came in and made 10 saves.

The Ducks are ahead in the series, but they've given up at least three goals in each game. 

"We've given up a ton of goals, be it late in the season or this playoff round," Quenneville said. "Other times I may have been considering it but that time, it was an easy decision to change momentum, put him in, see how Ville does and Ville did a good job."

Regardless of the starting goalie, the playoffs and closing out a series is new territory for many of the Ducks. Outside of veterans like forwards Mikael Granlund, Alex Killorn and Chris Kreider, and defensemen Radko Gudas, Jacob Trouba and John Carlson, many including 21-year-old forward Leo Carlsson are in the NHL postseason for the first time.

"We have to be more motivated for the first 5-10 minutes," Carlsson said. "We know they're going to come out hard. We just have to match that."

The Ducks are trying to advance to the second round for the first time since that Game 7 victory in 2017. It won't be easy closing out the Oilers with them looking to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight year. 

"When you have (momentum) you want to keep it," Quenneville said. "I thought we did a pretty good job of keeping it 2, 3, 4. They got it right off the bat (in Game 5) and we didn't nail it, but that happens. We expected it but they threw their best shot at us and we didn't respond correctly at that time."